Left 4 Dead 2 + Prima Official Strategy Guide

After three years of work the user-created Back to School campaign for Left 4 Dead 2 has reached version 1.0. You can download it now from the ModDB page, where they've also uploaded a trailer that gave me a terrible hunger to play Left 4 Dead again. A terrible, terrible hunger that not even this egg mayonnaise sandwich can help with. If only those eggs were more, I don't know ... brainy. Weird.

Oh well, not to worry. I'm sure everything's fine. Let's just sit back and enjoy this trailuuuuurrrrrrgh:

Freaks of the night, rejoice! Steam has unleashed monster savings on ghoulish (and not so creepy) titles. From now until about the time all the pumpkins are smashed*, over 80 titles (including The Walking Dead, Bioshock, Left 4 Dead, and many more) are available at prices so low, its scary.

If you have been playing Campaign mode, time to try Versus. It is competitive, but let people know you are new and looking for help. Read the forums for suggestions. If you are good at it, join one of the competitive groups, try some of the variants.

In the longer term, Steam Workshop is being added to Left 4 Dead 2. This will make it easier to add custom content to the game. This includes skins, weapons, campaigns and more. The screenshot above is from the great community campaign Suicide Blitz 2. The Workshop will begin rolling out in a closed beta this week.

We are also working on some new tools to help content creators design new experiences and push past custom Mutations. We will have more information on this and some example new content as we get closer to release.

Three years after release, Left 4 Dead 2 is a massive game containing 13 Official Campaigns, 8 Game Modes and countless user created Campaigns and Mutations. It’s a lot to soak in over just one weekend so here is a breakdown of what’s included.

The original Left 4 Dead 2 campaigns take the four survivors, Coach, Nick, Ellis, and Rochelle from Savannah to possible safety in New Orleans. These campaigns are: Dead Center, Dark Carnival, Swamp Fever, Hard Rain, and The Parish. The Passing is an additional campaign fitting between Dead Center and Dark Carnival that introduces the L4D2 survivors to the gang from L4D1. Cold Stream is a non-cannon community campaign released as an official campaign.

With the release of Cold Stream, L4D2 now also includes the L4D1 campaigns which follow Bill, Zoey, Francis, and Louis through No Mercy, Crash Course, Death Toll, Dead Air, Blood Harvest, and the Sacrifice. The comic “The Sacrifice” takes place after Blood Harvest and through The Sacrifice campaign and beyond.

We suggest new players start with Campaign mode. This is a co-operative mode that pits four humans against the zombie apocalypse. Realism is a play on Campaign mode where some of the player aids are removed and difficulty heightened. Single player mode is campaign mode with computer AI companions instead of humans.

Versus is the main the competitive mode that pits human Survivors against the human controlled Special Infected. Players take turns playing each side as they go through the campaigns. Realism Versus removes aids for the Survivors.

Scavenge mode is a round based competitive mode that keeps score by how many gas cans you can recover.

Survival is a co-operative mode that tests to see how long you can hold out in one location.

Mutations are a play on the other modes with different rule sets based on the individual Mutations.

A good way to learn the different modes is to play with friends or helpful group. Join us this Saturday in the <a href='steam://friends/joinchat/103582791430485503'>Official Left 4 Dead 2 Steam Group Chat</a> to hookup with like minded players and give the different modes a try.

Left 4 Dead is more than just the game. Countless community made movies both live action and animated have been made to celebrate the game. Make sure to visit the <a href='<a href='http://steamcommunity.com/app/550/videos'>Left 4 Dead 2 Game Hub</a> and check some out.

Three years after release, Left 4 Dead 2 is a massive game containing 13 Official Campaigns, 8 Game Modes and countless user created Campaigns and Mutations. It s a lot to soak in over just one weekend so here is a breakdown of what s included.

The original Left 4 Dead 2 campaigns take the four survivors, Coach, Nick, Ellis, and Rochelle from Savannah to possible safety in New Orleans. These campaigns are: Dead Center, Dark Carnival, Swamp Fever, Hard Rain, and The Parish. The Passing is an additional campaign fitting between Dead Center and Dark Carnival that introduces the L4D2 survivors to the gang from L4D1. Cold Stream is a non-cannon community campaign released as an official campaign.

Left 4 Dead 2 is now free to play this entire weekend. If you are new to the Left 4 Dead world, we have a list of tips below. If you have been around for a bit, don’t forget we have the Good Guy Nick achievement for you to earn starting today.

Additionally, to help find players and start games or just talk about Left 4 Dead 2, join us in the here in chat. Devs will be hanging out in chat and in games from 10am to 6pm PST this Saturday.

If you are brand new to the game, here are some tips for you:#1 – Play Campaign First – there are many different game modes available, but all rest rely on the skills you will learn in Campaign Mode.#2 – Talk. Hook-up your microphone. Don’t worry, you don’t need to talk non-stop but having the option to call out for help when you really need it is invaluable.#3 – Stay Together. Left 4 Dead is all about playing with a group. You need to stay with your group or you will die. Some of the special creatures can incapacitate you and the only way you can be saved is by your teammates.#4 – Make Friends. If you meet players you work well with – add them to your Steam friends to play with them again. To date we have four marriages (we know of) and countless friendships created by people who met playing Left 4 Dead.#5 – Join the Community. Participate in the discussion, view clips, see screenshots, and read news on our Steam Community hub. Check back on the blog as we will be updating every day this weekend. The community has even provided some valuable feedback and tips for new players in two forum posts available here and here. Don't be scared to ask questions in the forums or in the game. You can't survive the zombie apocalypse alone.

Left 4 Dead 2 is now free to play this entire weekend. If you are new to the Left 4 Dead world, we have a list of tips below. If you have been around for a bit, don’t forget we have the Good Guy Nick achievement for you to earn starting today.

Additionally, to help find players and start games or just talk about Left 4 Dead 2, join us in the Official Game Groupchat this Saturday. Devs will be hanging out in chat and in games from 10am to 6pm PST this Saturday.